If I remember correctly "worms" are met in the Professor's third book. Not sure if these are the same worms...
H:0)
If I remember correctly "worms" are met in the Professor's third book. Not sure if these are the same worms...
H:0)
Yes, there are a lot of beings like the Ngoro - which are actually colony creatures - who are descended from the contract employees of the First Founder, the (presumably human) Lord of Humanspace who got the contract to terra-form Tekumel. The Ngoro are security guards, basically; the giant 'worms' the tunneling engineers who digest the spoil from the tunnels. I would presume that the latter still get work orders from the central system for repairs and such, but I doubt that any new tunnels are being dug. They do have a contract, and they're carrying out their side of the bargain.Originally Posted by d(sqrt(-1))
What with the residents, garrison troops, spaceship crews, stranded tourists, contract workers, uninvited trespassers, disgruntled locals, and the usual odds and ends you see in any spaceport I'd be willing to bet that the population of Tekumel is pretty much what the average population of Humanspace was like.
Yeah, I'd agree with this. he just didn't worry about nailing down all the details all that much, and preferred that somebody go and have a look - so he could take notes on their fate, of course...
Thank you for the mention of the on-line books! I keep forgetting about them, mostly (I think) because I like to have a book in my hands when I read it...Guys, unless Project Gutenberg is somehow illegal in your country*, there's a lot of these, and more are getting released every day. The text of Barsoom novels is long since in the public domain; which is A Good Thing (TM), or I would never have been able to read as many of them as I have...
Jack Vance has less works on Project Gutenberg - only "Sjambak", it seems - but there are a few short stories you can find (legally) on other sites. Why they aren't on Project Gutenberg is beyond me, frankly.
In all honesty, I'm mixing my explanations of different sources, including some from early Russian sources. They had a thing for biotechnologies, those early writers - though the technology is almost never the point of the tale (with some notable exceptions)!
*And then: what kind of corporations-owned hellhole do you live in?
Thing is...if we can imagine it, it's all right.
If we can't imagine how it works, it's all right, too. I was unable to imagine smartscreens before they existed; now there's three of those so close I can reach them with my hand. We can't always imagine what future technology would be like, not even in general. Yes, Jules Verne prophesied submarines and helicopters before they existed...but not every Referee is Jules Verne. And he had technology that was just off, too.
And of course, some of the technology on Tekumel doesn't fit with modern scientific concepts. Which is alright, it doesn't need to. Before airplanes appeared, some people were trying to prove that there cannot be a heavier-than-air flying apparatus, or that helicopters are impossible...up until some inventors proved them wrong.
It just so happens that I can explain how stuff on Tekumel works, and have it make enough sense that my science-educated players mostly accept it. But it is a heady mix of nanotechnology and Tibetan mysticism, so might not be appropriate for all campaigns.
And you can have your own explanations as well. That would be totally normal
Worth remembering, and I'm taking notes
Very good points about explaining about the technology, too. Phil was very good with a table saw, but didn't know the first thing about how the electricity made the blade spin - or where the electricity came from, for that matter. It was all about how the story needed to be told, or the plot advanced.
The thing is what it is, and it's up to us to make of it what we will...
I'm pretty sure you're right; they do a lot of junketing around the technology and the Pylons in the second half of "Lords of Tsamra".
Work in progress update:
4 scout flyers built and in primer, drying out on the back porch;
175+ old figures stripped and sorted for disposal;
50 figures salvaged from the above and rebuilt for use, on the workbench while the glue cures.
1 tubeway car coated with filler, and curing before sanding.
It's been a good day, if I may say so. Wedding photos look good, too. Life moves ahead!
Last edited by chirine ba kal; 05-30-2016 at 12:37 AM. Reason: omission fixed
"You get a pretty mixed bag in any convention burg."
I don't care if you respect me, just buy my fucking book.
Formerly known as Old Geezer
I don't need an Ignore List, I need a Tongue My Pee Hole list.
The rules can't cure stupid, and the rules can't cure asshole.
Agreed - and we haven't even touched upon the folks who drop in through singularities, rifts in the fabric of space-time. nexus points, stupid dimension-hopper thingies, divine interventions, shipwrecks, and other such plot devices.
It gets busy around here, some days...
And here's an intriguing thought for GMs:
There has to be a 'lost luggage' section at the spaceport. I do wonder what might be there - assuming we can find the spaceport, in the first place...
Yup, this is a time honoured GM tool - resolve as necessary (sometimes by listening in to your players' speculations as they may have better ideas than you do)
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